Ubuntu 10.04 is a key release for Ubuntu and its commercial backer, Canonical. The update sports enhancements like social networking integration, cloud-based synchronization, a revamped interface and a new iTunes-like music store.

Additionally, Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx release is slated as a Long-Term Supported edition of the distro, a categorization that means the release can offer users an extended period of support beyond the typical 18-month period -- a factor that could make Ubuntu appealing to enterprises as well as average desktop users. LinuxPlanet takes a look.

Ubuntu Linux is gearing up for the debut of its latest release with Ubuntu 10.04, codenamed "the Lucid Lynx" and scheduled for general availability at the end of the month. It's a release that offers multiple new features on the desktop and a new look to Ubuntu Linux.

The Lucid release could also help to further accelerate adoption of Ubuntu, which has been growing over the last several years. In 2008, Canonical, the lead commercial sponsor behind Ubuntu, pegged the number of Ubuntu users at 8 million. It's a figure that could have increased by as much as 50 percent or more since then, insiders say.